Kenta NSFW!

I think those guys looked like Thomas and Erick and Bill's boat looks just like that!

 

Tsk tsk I told ya last year to sell it and invest the $. Even a 5% return would have left you better then where you are now with another years depreciation. You would be 10-20% better off

 

investing saving money I need a toy!

on a serious note i have been beefing up my savings account with the car payment i am no longer making. which is why i would like to stay away from any new loans.

 

A boat often comes with hidden charges.

If you pay to dock the boat, you have the monthly fee.

If you trailer the boat, you have to have a tow vehicle; seldom will that sit at home all week so you're spending more money driving to work every day.

With all that said, if I could envision a scenario that allowed me to afford it, I'd be a boat owner.

 

So, I am very much leaning towards the boat.

How much can i get for a 10 year old s2k with 118k on it. Clean and never seen the salt.

KBB is only 7.8k but i have yet to find one in excellent shape for under 10k

 

nothing for nothing but a 10 year old S with 120k is not in excellent condition...

maybe you'll get 8 for it

 

The kind of boat you have in the link is a family/ski boat. They are good for lakes and bays. The inboard/outboard is relatively inexpensive to maintain. The key here is to make sure everything is in good shape to begin with. A new engine will cost you about $5 to 6K installed, so have it checked out and make sure it is all good. Outdrives are pricey too. About $4K for a new one. You can get rebuilt engines and outdrives and they work pretty well and cost much less. Whatever you are looking at, make sure it is in good shape before you buy. Buy from a long time owner if possible and get all the receipts.

If you can do your own work, the boat you listed would be quite inexpensive to maintain as the engine is a basic car engine. Given our short season, you only need one oil change a year. I always change the plugs and cap every year too. The outdrives should get the oil changed every year and the water pump changed every other year. About every five years you need to change the interruptor switch.

If you are going in salt water, figure on an annual budget of about $1500 for regular maintenance and repairs. Some years it will be less, and others it will be more. Fresh water is much less.

Buy an extra prop and the tool to change it. New boat owners f-up all the time and break their propellors going into shallow waters. Take a saftey course so you don't kill someone and make the owner take you out and show you how to operate the thing. Don't try to learn on your own.

Buy as new as possible. Get an engine with fuel injection rather than a carburettor. Check the hours. You can get boats with under 300 hours all day long for real good money. Try to buy a boat that lived its life on a lake if you can. The salt is quite severe.

Make sure the trailer is in top condition too. Kinda sucks to have the trailer wheel fall off on the way to the lake. Insurance shouldn't be too bad, but you do need it.

Plan on spending $3-4000 a year on maintenance, expenses and gas and you should be ok. Don't bother to buy a boat if you are the kind of person who gets pissed off at spending money on repairs and expenses. The whole experience will just aggravate you and you will end up being one of those people who goes around saying stuff like "a boat is a hole in the water that you throw money into."

 

I know people who say that...........

Bill I knew you could give the pro/con on boat ownership.

 

speaking of which - when is the annual Legal Bill toss fish into the boat trip

 

Thanks Lainey. People just need to know what they are getting into, and be comfortable with it. Too many just kid themselves into thinking that all they have to pay for is a lot of gas. Those people end up unhappy and badmouthing the whole experience.